Jo Fearon completes 12 moarathons in 12 days and raises €12k+ for charity

On the 13th of December, Jo Fearon of Eagle AC started out on her first of twelve marathons on a treadmill in Mahers Sport in Cork City.

On day 10, Jo's accumulated time was 39 hours 03 minutes and 21 seconds. As everything was recorded and witnessed, that should be a new Guinness World Record for the fastest time on a treadmill for running 10 marathons in 10 days.

Yesterday on Christmas Eve, Jo finished the 12th and final marathon in the fastest time yet of 3:51.

In fact, every day her times for the marathon have been remarkably consistent...

3:53, 3:55, 3:55, 3:55, 3:55, 3:55, 3:53, 3:57, 3:55, 3:53, 3:55, 3:51

The main aim of the 12 marathons in 12 days was of course to raise funds for the neo-natal ward at Cork CUH. Between online donations and passers by, Jo has raised an amazing €12,169. If anyone would like to top it up, you can find the online donation page HERE

Nearly there...Finish of the 12th marathon in 12 days and 314.4 miles covered

Gerard Down of Eagle AC with Jo Fearon. Ger turned up on day one to help out and ended up staying for all twelve

Photos by Joe Murphy of Eagle AC

New record for 100m on all fours set in Japan

A new Guinness World record for running on all fours was set today in Japan.


Kenichi Ito completed the 100m in 16.87 seconds at Komazawa Olympic Park Athletic Field, in Setagaya, Tokyo.

Japanese man sets new 100m record...

Kenichi Ito from Japan recently set a new record for the 100m by 'running' on all fours! Taking 17.47 seconds, it was a new Guinness World record. Apparently, his style is based on the African Patas monkey and it has taken him nine years to perfect his technique.


Why anyone would want to 'run' on all fours is another question? Only in Japan ;o)

New attempt on Malin to Mizen record...

On the 22nd of September, Mimi Anderson from the UK will attempt to set a new record by running from Malin Head in Donegal to Mizen Head in Cork in less than four days. The current record was set by Sharon Gayter back in March 2012 when she ran from Malin to Mizen in 4 days 1 hour 39 minutes and 55 seconds. Over a year of planning and preparation has gone into this new attempt. As she is going for a Guinness World Record, there will be an official starter and finisher and the crew will have to keep a detailed log book, get witness signatures along the way and of course lots of photos and videos.

Mimi Anderson has the current record for the fastest time by a female for running from John O’Groats to Lands End in the UK  (840 miles in 12 days, 15 hours, 46 minutes). She is also the record holder for the furthest distance covered on a treadmill in 7 days by a female (403.81 miles).

Mimi will start from Malin Head in Donegal right on the point at 6am on Saturday, the 22nd of September and the plan is to finish under 4 days later at Mizen Head in West Cork - at the lighthouse. The route is: Malin Head, Carndonagh, Malin, Derry, Bready, Strabane, Ardstraw, Drumquin, Enniskillen, Swanlinbar, Ballinamore, Cloone, Longford, Outskirts of Athlone, Cloghan, Borrisokane, Nenagh, Drumbaun, Hollycross, Charleville Banteer Macroom Kealkill, Bantry, Toormore, Goleen, Finish at Mizen Head.

US runner Larry Macon sets new annual Marathon record...

San Antonio attorney Larry Macon broke his own Guinness world marathon record for the third time when he completed the New Year's Eve Marathon last Saturday. The competition marks his 113th marathon of 2011, breaking his own mark set last year. Heading into Saturday's race, Macon, who turned 67 that day, had amassed almost 3,000 miles running in 2011, gone through a dozen pairs of shoes and logged roughly 200,000 miles in flying. He now has run 823 marathons during his lifetime.

"When your weekend itinerary usually involves running two—sometimes three—marathons, there's always a plane to catch or a long drive ahead to get to the next starting line. If I have time, I'll shower at the hotel," says the five-hour marathoner. "But usually life isn't that good. So I'll change at a stoplight. I've gotten good at it. I haven't been arrested for indecent exposure yet."

His first Guinness world Marathon record was back in 2008 when Macon ran 105 races of 26.2 miles or more in a year. (The previous record was 100). Macon says the achievement is a reflection of his logistical skills rather than his athleticism. The Yale graduate, who earned his law degree at the University of Texas, started running in 1992 and tried his first marathon on a dare in 1996. "After that, I knew what was coming," says his wife, Jane. "Larry never does anything casually." In 2006, he ran 79 marathons/ultras; in 2007, he did 93. "I've always been driven," Macon says. "I used to work most weekends. My co-workers say that my running is the best thing that happened to them. Now they don't have 400 e-mails waiting for them on a Monday morning."

In a typical year, Macon would spend approx $8,000 on race registration fees. His personal best time is 4:15 which was set back in 2008.

Jen Salter sets new Malin Head to Mizen Head record...

On Friday the 10th of June, Jen Salter from the UK completed a run from Malin Head in Donegal to Mizen Head in Cork in a record time of 4 days 23 hours and 3 minutes.

The run was broken up as follows.......
Day 1...Sun 5th June 2011.....Starting off from Malin Head at the most northerly point of Donegal at 5am. Running through Derry and finishing near Dromore in Co.Tyrone, a distance of about 68 miles.

Day 2...Mon 6th...Starting again at 5am, running through Enniskillen and finishing in Keenagh, Co.Longford at 10:40pm, a distance of 71 miles.

Day 3...Tues 7th...Starting at 6:30am and running as far as Nenagh in Co.Tipperary, approx 61 miles.

Day 4...Wed 8th...Starting in Nenagh and finishing near Banteer in north-west Cork.

Day 5...Thurs 9th...Starting from north-west Cork and finishing 80 miles later at Mizen Head at 4:03am on Friday morning, the 10th of June.....a total of 4 days 23 hours and 3 minutes.

All of the information with witness signatures will now be submitted as a claim to the Guinness Book of Records.

Coming up on the 3rd of July, the French based Irish runner Malcom McLoughlin will run in the opposite direction from Mizen to Malin in aid of charity.

Runner sets new world record by running 408 miles in a week...

This story is a few months old but I only just heard about it when someone kindly sent the link on to me.

Last June in San Diego in the USA, Mike Sheey set a new world record by running 408.04 miles in one week. The previous record was set by England’s Bernie Hollywood in 2008 with 350.2 miles.

The last day of the record breaking run was spent taking part in the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.

This is an extract from a local online newspaper....
Sheehy is a U.S. Military Academy graduate and now works for a health care company. He started his record attempt at noon May 30, running 37.7 miles the first day.

The next four days he ran three times daily: from 6 to 11 a.m.; noon to 5 p.m.; and 6 to 8 p.m. He ran a marathon the first two workouts and logged about 11 miles in the evening.

After receiving a framed certificate from Guinness, Sheehy plopped down in a chair beneath a tent, kept bending over to stretch his legs and said: “I am ecstatic to be done. I can’t tell you how happy I am to be done. My body is trashed. Absolutely trashed.”

 The full article can be seen HERE